I love the Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band.
But, what is it with all the guitarists. Do they really need all of them to sound good.
The E-Street Band has for guitarists:
Bruce
Nils Lofgren - who I actually love, have a number of solo CD’s.
Patty Scalfa
Steven Van Zant
and others I can’t name.
Someone Please Explain.
Not being a musician, I can’t go into the virtues of the 6-string, and why it dominates modern music. But I will say that more than 2 guitars is often a waste. Lead and rhythm should be enough. I have heard recordings where two lead guitarists are separated in the L & R stereo channels, with another plucking rhythm in the center. If the players are distinct from each other, it can be worth it.
Then again, why do orchestras need all them violins? And who needs violas at all?
To keep the peace between them snotty violinists and the insane cellists.
Spaz, sometime violist
Can’t explain the excess guitars in the E-street Band. Many Punk bands make better music with only one guitar.
But I can explain the guitars place in popular music. It comes down to two factors:
As Radiohead sing, Anyone Can Play Guitar - The guitar is a very easy instrument to play at a beginner level. The simplest chords are very basic, and once you can play power chords, the whole scale is available and you can make some pretty good sounds.
The guitar is a very versatile instrument. It can be loud, soft, melodic, dissonant, abrasive, mellow, ethereal, direct, clean, distorted, jangly, soaring and any other adjective you could think of to describe music. It can make the softest, sweetest country sounds, the most exciting punk noise, be as complex as the most avid prog-rock enthusiast can bear and as straight forward as your standard rock n roll number. Nearly any form of music can be made with the guitar as the lead instrument.
I understand the guitar in a band, I just wanted to know
Why are there so many guitarists in bands, like the E-Street Band.
My guess would be besides filling the sound, partly political and partly cosmetic as well.
I agree with you about Nils. He is absolutely one of the finest guitarists around and reportedly one of the nicest guys ever in Rock. I’ve been a huge fan of Nils since the days of Grin.
Besides being able to play incredible lead on electric or acoustic, he is also able to step into the background and beautifully fill out the sound on rhythm. He also plays slide and I believe I saw him do some pedal steel work on a song or two this tour. (I don’t think he played any piano with Bruce but he’s also excellent there.)
Nils was brought into the E Street band to replace Steven when he left the band. Years later when Steven returned, it would be hard to give Nils his walking papers because you just can’t let go of such a solid musician. Also, Bruce got the band back together because he enjoyed playing with these guys. I doubt whether the economics of paying for an extra musician was a factor even considered.
Steven and Bruce go way back. Whereas I’m sure Nils could probably smoke Steven on guitar and vocals which could make him superflous, there is a history and chemistry between Bruce and Steven that adds greatly to the mix.
As far as Patty on acoustic guitar, I imagine it was added to her role of back up singer to give her something to do on stage at all the times her vocals were not needed. In other words, it’s doubtful her acoustic rhythm work would harm the sound even if it doesn’t add a lot to the mix.
Bruce plays lead and rhythm guitar, but he also stops playing from time to time to sing or work the crowd. Having Nils and Steven there makes it able for him to do this at any time without any dropoff in the sound.
Anyway, that’s my take on it. YMMV. (Your music may vary.)
Thanks, I do like Nils, I saw him play a benefit for Father Martin’s Ashley, a Drug and Alcohol Rehabiltation Center. Nils and Father Martin are personal friends, and my Sister-In-Law Tania, who is a photographer and was shooting the concert and had tickets.
So I didn’t know who he was, but Tania, my husband, and I went. They did have to convince me to go, because I didn’t know who he was or what kind of music he played, but after going and being blown away, he has a life-long fan in me. He played Grin songs (which I need to get a Grin greatest hits), solo work (which I have CD’s) and E-street songs (I think he played these to warm up the crowd with songs that people knew).
All I know, if Nils Lofgren plays again, anywhere I am there.
I am more of a Nils Lofgren fan than any of the other members of the E-street band, I may even like him better than Bruce.
Or, you know, it could just be the wife thing.
Patty: < LucyMode > “But Bruuuuuuce, why can’t I plaaaaaay myyyyyyyyy guitaaaaaaaaaaaar?” < /LucyMode >
Bruce: < RickyMode > “But, but, but…” < /RickyMode >
Patty: < LucyMode > “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” < /LucyMode >
Bruce: < RickyMode > “Okay, okay, you can play. Just stop crying. Sheesh.” < /RickyMode >
(I kid. I have no reason to believe that the current Mrs. Springsteen is a Whiny McNinnyhead, in fact, I’d imagine that she’s just the opposite. She strikes me as a pretty self-possessed kind of person. The first Mrs. Springsteen, however…)
I think it’s more often an example of typical rock and roll excess rather than a participation in any musical interest. Most of the time I have heard more than, say, two guitars in a band, it was on a studio recording and almost always perfectly overdubbed. Many stadium/arena venues would swallow up a wall of sound like that without thinking, given the crowd, P.A. budget, and other things like overall acoustics (assuming paying all those players isn’t an issue). IMHO it’s MUCH cleaner with just two guitars unless the players are right on the mark and the P.A. is good. But, having a lot of guitars can look fantastic, and it just might add to the overall chemistry of the band, which, it seems, quite a lot of people care about, including myself in many cases.
Or, you know, it could just be the wife thing.
I almost missed that. Hell, forget all that crap I said about acoustics, et cetera, it might just all boil down to a domestic issue easily avoided! Or, you know, it could just be the wife thing.
Or, you know, it could just be the wife thing.
I almost missed that. Hell, forget all that crap I said about acoustics, et cetera, it might just all boil down to a domestic issue easily avoided!
Great thread!
Just for your reference, a few years back Jimmy Page recorded a Live Album at the end of a summer long tour with The Black Crowes playing nothing but Zeppelin tunes.
Now, by any yardstick, that must have been a blast for The Black Crowes. Can you imagine how many times those lads must have jammed to Zeppelin tunes when they were youngsters cutting their teeth?
And there they were, tight as a band can be, playing Zeppelin tunes with the man himself! Jimmy Page!
Well, I must say - it’s definitely worth a listen - if only for the sake of the masterpiece called “Ten Years Gone”. That particular tune had three wonderfully complex and distinct guitar parts - each with their own melody and phrasing. A real timeless example of the craft.
Jimmy Page has since been quoted as saying how wonderful at long last it was to finally hear his songs played in a live setting in a way he could never do with Zeppelin - due to having 2 other guitarists as talented as himself.